mission statement

As I have been recently working on creating my personal and professional brand, I was asked by a close friend “What’s your mission statement?” After thinking long and hard, I realized I didn’t necessarily have one. I’m clear about what I’m passionate about, which is part of it, but I had never narrowed it down to something specific, with a way to achieve it. Understanding that this, like all things is a living ‘document’, and that it too will change over time, I still needed one to keep me focused on the here and now.

The questions I had to ask myself were: What am I trying to accomplish at this point in my life professionally?; What gets me going in the morning?; What’s going to guide my career, advocacy, education and activities? I answered all of these but then how do you craft it into one simple statement? Seemed so much easier working on the ones for my business but this time…I was a LOSS for words!

I started checking on other sites and looking browsing what I found on Google. After many drafts, I sent my final draft to a few of my close friends, ones who are familiar with what I’m doing professionally.

Last Draft: “My mission is to empower the African American community, particularly children and families, by reducing disparities in mental health. I will achieve my mission through increased culturally relevant education, advocacy, and program development.”

Most said it sounded great, but one friend, the one who challenged me to create a mission statement in the first place, asked “to do what?”…after “children and families.” GOOD Question! Back to the drawing board. BUT this time it only took me a few minutes. What is below, is what I came up with. Short, sweet, simple, and achievable!

“My mission is to reduce mental health disparities in the African American community. I will achieve my mission through increased culturally relevant education, advocacy, and program development.”

This will drive everything I do and will keep me focused on my goals. I am now updating all of my social media sites etc to reflect my newly crafted mission statement. YAY!!!!